Mail-delivery apparatus.



'G. E. REID & J. 'HEISSENBERGER.

" Mm. DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIOK FILED DEO.27,- 1906.

Patented Sept. 29

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MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 1:30.27, 1906.

8993013. Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED D30. 27 1906.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

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I EE a t Q Vi/fmeoogq M ViSIOIl of a 0 Will, which predetermi properdepositi automatica ing the travel of the ca asi UNITED STATES" PATENTOFFICE.

CHARLES E.'BEID AND JOHN lEfEISSENBERGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that we, OH'ARLEs E. REID invention being omitted for thesake of clear SENBERGER, citizens of the ness. Fig. 2-, is a transversesectional view esiding at New York, in the of the carrier chute taken online 2-2 .of county of New York and State of New York, Fig. 1. Fig. 3,is a sideelevation of the view have invented certain new and usefulImshown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is an enlarged sec- Delivery Apparatus, oftional view of the carrier chute and one of tlfe carrier boxes therein,the dotted lines inates to improvements in dicating theopen ordischarging position of aratus, and particularly to the carrier box.Fig.- 5, is an enlarged lan vering mail to the tenants view ofthecarrier boxes in the chute an the s of apartment houses or means forcausing the automatic discharge of the boxes, parts also broken away andand JOHN HEIS United States, 1'

provements in Mail- Which the following Our invention rel mail deliveryap apparatus for de i on the difi'erentfl other large buildings.

is a specification.

MAIL-DELIVERY nrrnnn'rvs.

Patented Sept. 29, 1 908. Application filed December 2'7, 1906. SerialNo. 849,660.

shown in section and the smaller details of the The object of ourinvention,-is the prbshown in section. Fig. 6, is a detail view in hevarious floors or prem a building, the entlre vision of a carrier orcarriers for delivering elevation to show the manner in which thecarrier boxes are connected together. Fig. 7, is a diagrammatical viewof the carrier riers being automatic so boxes and the electrical meansand connecat no external attentionis necessary to the trons foroperating and controlling the same. operation of the device.

We will first describe Another object of -1r invention is the proandthen point out the particular details of v of construction, coml ment'of forth.

iigure 1, is a broke 55 co plete mail deliver for use in a three storyarrier which may be started at will depositits contents at certain enceto Figs. 1 and 2; the numeral 1, designed points, and which "when thenates the wall of a building, and 2, the varion of the contents has beenous floors of the building. made, will automatically return to thestarting point in readiness for the next trip.

A further ob vid the trolled either autom Our invention alsohas for itsobject, to provide a carrier'or a series of carriers which willautomaticall gnly at the prope atically or at Wlll.

y deposit their contents r points so'that there shall v starting,

mple, practical an (1 effective manner, and to these ends our lnv)inatiom: and arrange n front elevation of the uilding, parts beingloaded simultaneously,

construction, and now with particular refer- A chute or stack 3, ofsheet metal or other suitable material extends through the floors of thebuilding j ect of our invention, is to prothe chute being provided witha longitudina v e means for controllingthe operation of compartment 4,extending its full length, and carriers so that the carriers may beconhaving oppositely-disposed guides orv channel bars 5, on its interiorwalls. pulley 6, is journaled at the bee. over which passes the rope orcable is connected to the upper one of the boxes or carriers 8, theother side of the cable no mistake in the delivery of the mail topassing down throughthe compartment 4 in the wrong point, and to providemeans for the chute, over the guiding l stopping and governthen woundupon the drui rriers. is rotated through a worm gear; connection We aimto accomplish the above results in 11, from the motor 12, thcoppositecnd of the drum carrying a ca ention comprlses a car-v overguiding pullevs 14, and 'rier or a set of carriers, suitablepowermechthe lowermost of the series of boxes. anism for elevating or causingthe carriers to thus be seen that by rotating the motor in travel Withincertain limits, automatic means the proper direction, the boxes will beraised for governing the travel-of the carriers, and

in providing the carriers with means for the An opening 15, is formed inthe front wall automatic discharge'thereof; and the invenof the chute(preferably at the first floor in tion further consists of a maildclivcr appathe building) to permit ratus embodying certain otherno eleaturcsv examined and loaded, a

cover said opening, and parts substantially Rsherein set the occupantsof the building may be arranged upon the door, as sho This opening inthechute is apparatus arranged size to admit of several of t A supportingpulleys 9, and

ble 13, which passes is connected to or lowered in the chute.

of the boxes being loor 16, is hinged to a suitable index to wn inFig. 1. referably of a e boxes being and smaller openings therein.

tion.

40 charge its contents.

17, are formed in the chute at each floor or .statibn for the dischargeof the mail there through.

The boxes or carriers for the mail or pack- 5 agkps have a front wall orcover plate 18,

ich is pivoted at theupper end at 19, and a rear wall 20, which islikewise pivoted at.

.. 21 and a flap is pivoted in the upper front "edgeofthe box for theinsertion of the mail The rear wall has the angular sides 22, and a link2-3, connects the front and rear walls in parallelism. Pivot'ed to thelower end between the angular sides of the rear wall, is a false bottom24, and secured to the 5 rear wall and overhanging the point ofpivpending pawl 29, which normally rests upon a spring supportedabutment 30, or other elastic support, the 1. oint of the pawl when inthis position being adapted to engage the lugon the rear wall of thebox. The boxes 3b are connected in series by means of the pivoted links31, and'rollers 32, carried on the sides of the boxes engage the guideson the inner walls of the chute. A tripping pawl as described isarranged in the chute at each station and the pawls of the ditferentstations are offset from each other as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5,and the lug on the back of each box is arranged to correspond with thepawl on the floor at which it is to dis- As the boxes are elevated inthe chute, the pawls engage the res ective lugs on the boxes in order,and as s own in Fig. 4 in dotted lines, thepawl forces the rearwall-outwardly, likewise the front wall and the false bottom, whichthereby discharges the contents of the box through the opening providedfor that purpose in the chute. The boxes continue u wa d after beingemptied and the pawls fa downward to their normal position after theboxes have all passed above the pawls in the chute.

The springs close the boxes as soon as they have been acted upon by thepawls.

We will now describe the means for gov- .5s erning the travel of theboxes, and for this purpose, we invite attention to the diagram-.matical view of the connections shown in Fig. 7. Immediately inside thedoor for de positing the mail in the boxes, is located a switch arm 33,carrying the individual contact points 34 and 35, fed by the feed wires-36 and 37 respectively, said contact points adapted to be' advanced tothe stationary contacts 38 and 39, respectively. Wires 40 c5 and 41extend from these last-named 0011- tacts'to the field winding 42 of themotor, and wires 43 and 4-4 are fed from said contacts and terminateeach in a pair of contacts 45, 45 and 46, 46, respectively, forming partof a reversing switch. The reversing switch is also provided with twoadditional sets of contacts 47, 47, and 48, 48, which are connected bythe conductors 49 and 50, to the armature 51 of the motor. The contactpoints to the reversing switch may be arranged in radiating lines asshown, and a switch lever 52, centrally pivoted serves to connect theadjappnt sets of points.

When mail is to be deposited in the boxes, the switch arm 33, is thrownto the right in Fig. 7, until the boxes are brought to a level with theopening in the chute. The path of the current is then as follows:through food wires 36 and 37, contacts 3438, 35 39, respectively, wires40 and 41 to the field 42 of the motor, a portion of the currentdividing and flowing through conductors- 4-3 and 4st, to contacts 45 and46, over the arm of the switch lever to points 48 and 4-7; thence. by

conductors 50 and 49, through the armature 51. This causes the motor torotate in one, say the forward direction, carrying the boxes upward.When the boxes have all been filled, the door to the opening in thechute is then closed. This door carries on its inner face the twobridging contacts 53 and 54,

adapted to connect the contaets.3438 and.

3539 res eetively, so that when this door is closed, tie circuit iscompleted, and the boxes are carried upward in the chute, and as theyreach the respective pawls at the different stations, the boxes arefreed of their contents. When the last box has been discharged, an arm55, carried by the upper box, en ages the lower end of the reversingswitch lever and forces the same upward, thereby-reversing the rotationof the motor and causing the boxes to be lowered in the chute. When theboxes are thus descending and have nearly reached the lower end of thechute, a pawl 56, carried. on the side of one of the boxes, engages theangular extension 57,

on the end of the switch arm and draws the switch arm out of engagementwith the contacts thereby breaking the circuit, stopping the motor andallowing the boxes to come to rest in the bottom of the chute, (providedof course'fthat the switch arm was in engagement with the contacts whenthe door was closed. I This pawl is simply to insure of the switch armsbeing out of contact the next time the door is opened, and. if theswitch arm was not in contact when the door was closed, then thedescending .pawl will have no effect on it.) A spring 58 holds the pawl56 outstanding, that when the boxes are ascending, the pawl has noeffecton the switch arm.

A stop 59, carried by the cable is arranged to engage the :eversingswitch lever when means for manually controlling the power mechanism tooperate the carriers, means 0 erated by one of the closures for startint e carriers, means for reversing the travel of the carriers and for stoping the same in their original position, an means for restoring thecontrolling means to the original position. j

2. In a carrier system, the combination with carriers and a passage-way.therefor,

closures to the passageway, electric motive power for the carriers,electrical COIIDGCUOHS A including a manually operated switch and a'outward, opening reversing switch, bridging contacts operated by themovement of one of the closures for starting the carriers, means foroperating the reversing switch when the carriers have reached one limitof travel, and means for restoring the reversing'switch to the originalposition when the carriers. have returned to their original osition.

3. The com ination with carriers having ivoted front, rear and bottomwalls,-a chute in'whioh the carriers are adapted to-travel, of selectivemeans in the chute to engage the rear wall of certain of the carriersand cause movement of the pivoted walls thereof: v 4ZThe combinationwitha chute, of carriers therein having ivoted walls, selective means in thechute f dr causing discharge of the carriers, an electric motor'andconnections for elevatin the carriers, a manuallyoperated contro gswitch and automat-o ically-operated reversing swit'ch in circuit withthe motor, a door to the chute, and'con-v tacts on, the door tocomplete-the circuit and cause travelof the carriers,

5. The combination. with a guideway, of

- carriers therein, means for causing dischar e of the contents of thecarriers, closures to t e purposes and is thoroughly rehable rear openside, a rear wall way, and means for causing guideway, power mechanismfor the carriers, means for manually controlling the power mechanism,means operated by one of the closures for controlling the power mechan-.

ism, 'means for reverslng the power mechanism to sto the carriers intheir original position, an means for restoring the controlling means tothe original position.

6. A carrier comprisin pivoted at the upper end to close said open rearside and provided with angular side extensions, a pivoted front wall,hnks connected bet een the front and rear wall, a false bottom pivotedbetween the angular sides'of the rear wall, a depending flange on therear wall overhanging the ivotal connection of the false bottom, an aspring en aging the rear wall to hold the parts norma 1y closed 7. Aseries of carriers each consisting of a frame member open in front andrear, a rear wall-pivoted in each carrier to form a closure to the openrear side thereof, a front wall pivoted to each carrier, meansconnecting the front and rear walls together, a false bot tom inconnection with the rear wall, means for holding thewalls normallyclosed, and links connecting the carriers in series.

8. In combination with a chute, socket members carried by the rear wallthereof,

pawls pivotally mounted in said socket members, cushion supports for thefree ends a casing having a of the 'pawls, and carriers contained in thechuteto be acted upon by the pawls.

9. A carriersystem comprising in combination, carrier frames 0 en'mfront and rear, a rear. wall pivoted to orm a closure to said open rearsidegwof each carrier, front pivoted walls to the carriers, .means'connectmg the front and rear walls in parallelism, false bottomspivoted to the rear walls of the carriers,

means for holding the walls of the carriers normally -closed, meansconnecting the carriers in series, aguideway for the carriers, means formoving the carriers in the guideoutward opening movement of thecarriers.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES IE. REID. JOHN HEISSENBERGEh,

Witnesses:

PAUL TAUSIG, JoHN- F. Honn'rz.

